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Came upon an organized bike ride Tuesday evening traveling down Williamsburg Blvd toward Westmorland St….must of been 50 or 60 bikes haulin buns down that hill. Out of curiosity, I sped up and clocked them at 40-45 MPH…..speed limit is 30 MPH. Several bikers at random were leaving the bike lane and using the roadway (no signaling of course), whereupon when they reached Westmorland, they swung wide left in order to make a right turn at as fast a speed as possible……and of course the light was red, but was completely ignored! Are these ‘bike rides’ or ‘races’??

After finishing my errands in Falls Church, traveling back up Williamsburg Blvd, I can see that the ride is still going on. As I round the circle at the CVS, I look over to see several ACPD officers directing traffic, allowing the bikes to travel through the stop sign at Powhatan St.

So the cops are involved at some intersections(?), allowing the bikes to maintain momentum, and then not seeing (or caring?) that these very bikes they’re directing through a stop sign are then breaking several traffic laws by speeding down the road, weaving out of their lane, and then blowing through the red light.

I’m no lawyer, but this sounds like a liability issue to me: ie. “I saw the cops letting us through the stop sign, so I figure the course has been ‘sanctioned’ and I can speed down the hill and through the red light. So when that car hit me as I sped through the light, I’m thinking, where’s the cops, they should have been there, the County must share the blame!”

Any lawyers out there? Whaddya think?

BTW….The only cyclists I treat with respect on the road are the ones who follow the law. (Don’t bother referencing my ‘speeding’ to clock the bikes, as I slowed right back down, watching the bikes zoom by on my right.)

I’ve often wondered if freshbikes pays for the motor patrol. The ride starts there, goes up Quincy/Military, comes down Glebe to Williamsburg, and then turns around and follows the route back. Normally near Williamsburg and Glebe (where I live), the continuity of the group has broken up and the cops are gone. The other thing I’ve yet to figure out is why they continue to use Williamsburg boulevard, given it’s a war zone from Glebe road all the way to the turnaround for their ride.

“(Don't bother referencing my 'speeding' to clock the bikes, as I slowed right back down, watching the bikes zoom by on my right.)”

Oops, I just did.

Did you clock all the speeding cars too? Or do only bikes that break the law matter to you?

There’s no excuse for breaking the law, especially running red lights. I can understand why you’d notice when it’s a group of cyclists, but it’s funny how motorists don’t seem to notice as much when other cars and pedestrians break the law, only bikes.

You should call up ACPD and let them know what you saw and ask them to come to that intersection next time.

sansabelt – it’s very clear that johnny b’s post is strictly about this organized bike ride and its legality. Don’t turn this into yet another cars vs. bikes argument in an effort to get your stupid point across.

“sansabelt - it's very clear that johnny b's post is strictly about this organized bike ride and its legality. Don't turn this into yet another cars vs. bikes argument in an effort to get your stupid point across.”

I can, and I will, because he can’t just declare that only bikes are up for scrutiny when it comes to traffic laws. Especially speeding, which is almost universal among drivers. To post a comment complaining about cyclists speeding – when cars speed all around him daily – makes me think he’s singling out bikes.

He has a better point with the red light thing though. That’s a serious issue.

If he says he agrees with me, but he’s just talking about bikes this time, fine – but then he wouldn’t object to my comment. If he says he’s concerned about all traffic violations but just wants to talk about this one now, fine, I’ll drop it.

Not any more, it’s not. I brought up a legitimate point. johnny b can simply respond by saying “yes, all traffic violations are wrong, but I’m talking about this one” and that would be that. Nobody else can speak for him though. And I will not respond to trolling or stalking posts, btw.

This is another clueless rant about bikes. Bikes in Virginia are allowed the full lane, regardless of the existence of a bike lane. This is used for passing, turning, avoiding other obstacles (such as other bikers and cars), etc. So, the bikers have the right to take up the full lane of traffic as long as they are maintaining the speed of traffic.

On the issue of speed… I doubt you’re going to get ACPD to pull over a biker for 45 in a 30mph. And, I’m willing to bet the biker would be mighty proud of a ticket that read 15mph over the posted speed limit. And, fat chance of a biker having his driver’s license on him while riding.

While I’ve been on that ride several times, I can almost assure you that only a handful of the riders in that group can achieve that speed. That’s a “B” group of riders ride, which means they’re the slow bunch. When I rode that ride, the “A” riders rode a different stretch, though they’d be able to achieve those speeds.

Biking is about momentum. There’s no gas pedal on a bike. You need momentum from descent to help you ascend.

Furthermore, I’ve only found that lazy people get upset about bikers in the road. The bigger the tire around your belly, the more you whine and complain.

If it’s an organized ride, that would explain why a cop would be directing traffic at intersections, right? Going through a stop sign because a cop directs you to doesn’t imply you will assume you can do that always, either at that intersection or anywhere else.

I would also assume the herd mentality would come into play here (if the first 20 riders do it, the next 40 probably will too).